Nigeria’s sole representative at the IWF World Weightlifting Championship in Forde, Norway African Games and Commonwealth Games multiple gold medalists, Rafiatu Folashade Lawal will depart the country for the Scandinavian land today.
The competition will start from Thursday this week to 11th October with Lawal aiming to boost her chances of qualifying for the next year’s Commonwealth Games.
The Nigerian is expected to compete in the Women’s 58kg on October 4th and her decision to leave about five days to her event is to enable her to train in Norway and also to get acclimatized to the weather.
The Oyo-born weightlifter represented Nigeria at the Paris 2024 Olympics where she placed fifth in the Women’s 59kg with a total lift of 230kg.
Lawal has been training very hard in anticipation of the competition and she told NWF Media that she’s doing all within her powers to finish on the podium and boost her chances of qualifying for the Commonwealth Games next year.
She said she’s thrilled with the spotlight on her and that she’s convinced she would give a good account of herself in Norway notwithstanding the weather and other factors.